I've had a check emissions system error message for a while now (I thought I knew what was causing it and that it wasn't a problem, now I'm not so sure). Today the check engine light started flashing, my car started "puttering" and I had less power when accelerating. I know it is a misfire. My question is how likely is it that my problem is that the catalytic converter went out? When I put my hand to the tail pipe I feel a good bit of pressure behind each "puff". I also let it run for a bit and looked underneath but didn't see the glowing red that can accompany a clogged converter.

 

Sputtering can be caused either by ignition or by fuel arrival. I would check the fuel pressure (related to fuel pressure sensor - common issue, fuel pump, fuel filter, etc) and the ignition coils (read codes to find which cylinder is misfiring and switch the coil from a good cylinder to see if the coil is the problem).

 

Thanks,

I'm taking it to a mechanic tomorrow morning but I was trying to do some online research before I did. I am hoping its just a spark plug/coil pack which of course is MUCH more affordable than replacing the catalytic converter. Hopefully I will luck out with a simple fix.

 

Most common cause of misfires on P2 cars is faulty could

 

What is a P2 car? And did you mean faulty coil? That is what my dad said it probably was.

 

I think he meant indeed a faulty coil (probably a typo) P2 is the platform for S60 from 2001 up to 2007 I think. If it's an ignition coil you don't need to replace them all, just the faulty one

 

Yeah sorry I do all of my responses on my phone so autocorrect changes a lot of things.I recommend to replace all of the coils, if that is what is causing the misfire. Too many times have I seen a customer replace just the faulty one just to come back a short time later with another faulty coil.

 

I took it to the mechanic yesterday, it was a bad coil pack. I didn't get them all fixed at once because at $60 a pop and having 5 in the whole car the price runs pretty high pretty fast. I do however plan on getting them changed a few at a time as I have the funds available. Thanks for the help everyone. The only thing I couldn't figure out was, as I stated earlier I have had an Emissions system error on my message board for a while now but when they hooked it up to the computer they couldn't see an actual error. They cleared everything out anyways after they fixed the coil and it hasn't come back on. Maybe it was just a glitch?

 

the coil might have be misfiring only intermittently, in which case the computer will clear the code if it doesn't happen for a while but of course, once the coil goes bad it needs replaced $60 seems pretty high, they could be selling used for quite less off Ebay in case it happens again

 

I have had that "hesitation" on my V70 2ltr petrol & couldn't work out what was causing it. The local Volvo agent charged £110 to replace the faulty one. Within 2 months it started happening again, another £110 !! I then went onto Youtube & discovered how easy it is to do the job yourself. Have just bought 3 on Ebay (second hand) so hope this cures the problem. Fingers crossed.